An early start this morning, heading off to the Mekong Delta area for a homestay and some local specialties. Unfortunately the hotel, as well as being infested with ants, decided that I’d taken beer from the minibar and also the slippers from the room! It took quite a few denials and T stepping in to convince them otherwise. I certainly don’t recommend Asian Ruby 3 for anyone staying in Saigon. The breakfast is enough to put anyone off, even without the rest – rubbery eggs, raw bacon, soft “crispy” spring rolls…
Uh-oh…
So eventually we headed out on the bus for an hour or two, with only one drama — being pulled over by the police! Apparently our driver had swerved slightly to avoid a pothole, and in the process had driven over the lane line in the road, resulting in a $120 fine and losing his licence for a month! We put the hat around to help out, so hopefully things won’t be too bad for him – $120 is a *lot* of money here.
On the long boat
After a quick convenience stop along the way, we reached the spot on the river where we hopped on our long boat. What a lovely way to travel!
Jackfruit! Not as smelly as its cousin the Durian…
We had a bit of a walk through the fruit orchards on our way to lunch, seeing jackfruit trees, green papaya, and of course pomelo. Interestingly, a lot of the plants in these gardens are in pots rather than in the ground – at least, the smaller cumquat trees etc. Might have something to do with having a high rainfall?
Lunch was at one of the homestay places, which was a collection of buildings on stilts above the river. The food was nice and simple, rice and salad with some meat and spring rolls.
Bonsai garden
The next stop was a bonsai garden, where we tried snake wine (yes, rice wine/spirit sitting in a bottle with a dead snake in it – ewww!) or at least, some people did!
Snake wine
This place also had a pet snake (possibly a carpet python?) as well as the usual dogs and cats, so the more adventurous of us had a chance to pose with Monty, the 35kg snake. Gorgeous!
Monty
Then we were able to take a leaf out of the locals’ book, relaxing in a hammock in the shade while it is hottest… lovely. We are pretty keen to get a pair of hammocks when we get home!
On the sampan
The final activity for the day was to be paddled down to our homestay in small sampans, rowed by local ladies. This was because the tide had lowered and out bigger boat couldn’t get through. Quite a relaxing afternoon.
The river
The homestay was a large farmhouse along the river where the upper level had been converted into a dormitory. There were Western loos and cold showers, but no aircon! Thank goodness for fans, as the weather is still very hot and sticky here. We spent the late afternoon relaxing in the outdoor area in the shade, and then had a quick cooking class to make another form of spring roll, this one a small, thin one which is deep fried.
Cooking class
Dinner was amazing. Like pretty much all the meals we’ve had, we were all stuffed even before the rice came out! We started with the spring rolls, sweet potato chips, and a huge prawn each, and then moved onto elephant-ear fish which we ate in spring-roll style, wrapped in rice paper with lettuce and herbs. After dinner we played a drinking game with the iniquitous rice wine… ick! Too strong and aniseed-y for my taste.
Mrs Moy and her great-granddaughter
We also had some time talking with nearly-80-year-old Mrs Moy (Mrs Ten), who has seen so many changes in the country. It was interesting to find out a bit more about Vietnamese culture, such as how wives must go to their husband’s family’s house, even now, rather than staying near her parents. She said it is sad to have a daughter, because you always know you will lose her. She also mentioned that she was taught elements of Western culture and cooking from the cooperative who oversees the homestays, so that they make the traditional Vietnamese food more appealing to the Western palate. I had thought that apart from putting extra forks and spoons on the table, we were getting pretty standard traditional food, but apparently they tweak it a little to cater to the visitors, such as adding more meat to the dish (Vietnamese people will eat a lot less meat than we do, getting more of their protein from vegetables).
Bedtime was interesting – since we were on the top floor, it was quite warm! We had the fans going, and all the windows were wide open to catch any breeze possible, so we were sleeping under mosquito net canopies. I think most of us were too hot to sleep very well, but we all managed a little sleep once it was cooler in the early hours of the morning.
Two Weeks Away 